Artists: Fung Yee Lick Eric, Lenka Holíková, Hagen Klennert, Vladan Kuzmanović, Naomi Middelmann, Kasia Ozga, Nathaniel C. Praska, Rodrigo Prian-García, Anna Syarova.

Curated by: Ilknur Demirkoparan and Vuslat D. Katsanis

On view:  October 8 – December 5, 2021.

+ In observance of Thanksgiving and Indigenous People’s Day, the gallery is closed this weekend (November 26 –28). However, we are extending the current exhibition, 1989, until December 5.

* Conversation with Curators on Saturday, October 9 from 2-3pm. RSVP encouraged

MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture is pleased to present 1989, an international group exhibition by nine artists working across multiple media. This is the first in a series of exhibitions unfolding the resonances of the  year, 1989.

To speak of 1989 is to speak of revolutions. For some, it marks the end of history as the last chapter of a long-winded ideological battle; victors packaging promises of flashy freedoms. For others, it marks the beginning of a new era of force; time marching forward in clanking servitude of control societies. To speak of 1989 is to speak of collapse. It is to speak of the many befores and the many afters across multiple centers and peripheries. From the fringes of the former West to the afterworlds of an emergent East and all across the global South, 1989 rips through the primacy of borders, insisting instead, on another vision of life, one built upon our shared and ever-shifting ground.

Hailing from Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Hong Kong, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, and the US, this exhibition brings together nine artists whose works speak to some element of life after collapse. Widely construed through a diverse collection of painting, drawing, installation art, sculpture, photography, conceptual emptiness, and textile, each artist engages aesthetic, economic, geographic, sociological, political and psychological rupture. Taken together, the exhibition highlights postcollapse as a critical framework for contextualizing the contemporary practices of artists from these dynamic regions since 1989.

Artists:

Fung Yee Lick Eric (b. Hong Kong, MA Fine Arts CUHK & Museum Studies Leicester) is a mixed media and ink artist. He was awarded multiple recognitions and recently shortlisted for the The Hong Kong Human Rights and Asia Art Future prizes.

Lenka Holíková (b. Cheb, Czech Republic) is a visual artist, illustrator and professor. She studied at Hradec Králové University and held numerous international residencies. She was recently recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Puebla, MX.

Hagen Klennert, (b. Erfurt, GDR), in 1985, Klennert escaped from East to West-Germany and started solo exhibitions and collaborations with the composer Helmut Oehring. Klennert lives and works in Berlin.

Vladan Kuzmanović,  (b. Belgrade, Serbia) is a conceptual artist, avant-garde poet, musician and theorist. He explores transparency and non-medium.

Naomi Middelmann, Born in Switzerland, she holds degrees in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins and Art from the Visual Art School in Basel in 2009. Her work has been shown in over 50 solo and group shows in galleries and art fairs in Europe and USA.

Kasia Ozga, Polish French American sculptor born in Warsaw shortly after the collapse of communism. She reanimates mass-produced materials into singular artworks. Ozga holds a Ph.D. from the University of Paris 8, an M.F.A. from the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.

Nathaniel C. Praska, (b. Portland, OR) explores the myth of the American Dream through large, textural paintings that combine expressive styles with graffiti. Praska won several residencies and awards, including the Calligram Foundations Fellowship.

Rodrigo Prian-García, (b. MX). Graduated in Visual Arts (UNAM). He has numerous international solo and group exhibitions and awards. He investigates different forms of absence in objects and actions, resorting to erasure as a technique.

Anna Syarova, Born in the USSR, Syarova has changed two citizenships, and identifies as Russian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian. Her work is informed by national history and iconography. She has exhibited her work widely, and lives and works in Moscow.

MinEastry of Postcollapse Art and Culture is an artist-run space and think tank dedicated to exploring our global contemporary from the vantage of postcollapse art and theory. Our frames of reference begin with the human experiences from East Europe and West and Central Asia since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and permeate to every corner of our diasporic world-presence.

1989 opens on October 8 and runs until November 28, 2021. There will be a special conversation with the curators on Saturday, October 9 from 2pm – 3pm. RSVP strongly encouraged.

For questions, viewing hours or inquiries, contact hello[at]postcollapse.art. 

This event is sponsored in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council.